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Blooming good news for small scale growers at Devon County Show

The Devon County Show has announced that it is to introduce a new section to the Craft & Garden feature for 2019 which will enable small businesses operating in horticulture to benefit, for the first time ever, from the 91k strong audience that visit the show over three days in May.

Lisa Moore, Features Co-ordinator at Devon County Show explains: ‘Historically, all of our competitors, and our exhibitors in the Gardens section have had to adhere to RHS rules and regulations. Whilst this has given this section of the show status and gravitas, it has meant that a lot of smaller, individual growers as well as small scale market gardeners have had to miss out – that is, until now. A brand new street style section which has been approved by the Crafts and Gardens Committee will be introduced in 2019 and will operate under Devon County Show rules, which will be more flexible and inclusive than those of the RHS.’

Lisa expects an enthusiastic response from local producers who wouldn’t normally qualify to exhibit. ‘The average Briton spends a whopping 30k on their gardens in a lifetime and much of this is invested in planting. And with Chelsea putting horticulture at the top of the news headlines when the Show opens its gates each year, the Devon County Show presents the biggest marketing opportunity in the South West for growers of all shapes and sizes.’

Lisa concludes: ‘As if that’s not enough to persuade you that the Devon County Show Crafts and Garden Marquee is THE place to be for horticulture businesses, this section of the show is one of the most frequented on the showground, second only to the food hall, with around 80,000 people with an average disposable income of over £41,000 passing through it daily.’